2012 Panini Cooperstown Baseball is like the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in a box. Boasting lots of autographs and a variety of inserts, the set aims to create a cardboard exhibit that educates, entertains and enlightens collectors with many of the game's all-time greats.

The 2012 Panini Cooperstown Baseball base set has 150 cards. There are also 20 Color Tint short prints, taking a full set up to 170 cards. Players include Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson and Lou Gehrig. Crystal Collection parallels, which are numbered to 299, fall three per box.

Box hits are led by the promise of at least one Cooperstown Signatures autograph. Additional autographs come courtesy of Famed Cuts, which feature cut signatures from the likes of Mickey Mantle, Dizzy Dean and Sandy Koufax.

Bronze History (#/599) are embossed plaque cards that fall three per box. Between these and the similarly themed Gold Hall of Fame Plaque cards found in 2012 Topps Update Series Baseball, collectors have plenty of options for building their own mini Hall of Fame shrines.

Rather than picturing the player, Fameous Moments cards dig into the Cooperstown memorabilia collection and depict a key piece of equipment used in setting the record or major achievement. Other inserts include Voices of Summer (two per box), Credentials (two per box) and Induction (two per box).

A promotion run in conjunction with 2012 Panini Cooperstown Baseball has a grand prize of a trip to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

2012 Panini Cooperstown Baseball Product Review

Bad: Although understandable, several photos are extremely blurry, some inserts lack pop, scattered numbering makes building an autograph set near impossible.

The Bottom Line: For those looking to dig into baseball's past and learn more about the greats, 2012 Panini Cooperstown is a blast. Offering content that spans generations, it's a reasonable bust, especially considering you're guaranteed an on-card autograph from a Hall of Famer (or a sticker from a player who has passed away within the last couple of years). From the base set through the inserts, the release does an excellent job of maintaining its focus, looking beyond player accomplishments and going into the museum itself.

Staff Rating:

4.1 / 5.0

Card Design: 3.8/5.0

This is one of Panini's best designed sets since landing the MLBPA license. The lack of MLB logos presents a challenge and it's nice to see that Panini isn't opting for the simple airbrush route. Using choice cropping and angled shots, the set does a great job of getting around its limitations.

The base set digs deep into the Cooperstown archives to bring a strong mix of portraits and action shots. Card backs offer a rarity in the hobby today -- a photo that's different from the one on the front. Also notable on the backs are the extensive write ups that highlights the players' accomplishments.

Inserts are led by the Cooperstown Signatures. The clean design highlights both the player and their autograph. A huge plus here is that the vast majority of them are signed on-card. The only exceptions are a handful of players who are no longer with us, which is understandable.

One thing that's interesting about 2012 Panini Cooperstown is that is has a few insert sets that don't include player images. While this is something that I wouldn't want to see regularly, it seems appropriate for much of what's done here. I like that historical artifacts are showcased. The Village is a nice touch as well, highlighting the area surrounding the Hall of Fame (keep an eye out for a Pete Rose Easter egg). Credentials have a nice design, but a player's name and some stats seem more appropriate for a card back.

Checklist: 4.0/5.0

With all the exclusives and retired player deals floating around the world of sports collectibles, it's going to be near-impossible (or very expensive) to get a truly all-encompassing cardboard look at the Hall of Fame. That said, Panini does a great job with who they have access to. Well-known legends are paired alongside with some of baseball's original heroes.

The autograph checklist is especially impressive. Sure, not all Hall of Famers are on equal footing on the secondary market, but it's really hard to complain about any of them. They are, after all, Cooperstown inductees. It's the kind of autograph set that would be nice to put together in its entirety. However, the scattered numbering makes that a near impossible task. Print runs for individual Cooperstown Signatures cards run from a high of 699 all the way down to 10. Many of the low-numbered cards are repeats of players already in the set. While I understand that a lower-numbered variant adds value to those who hit them, they also knock out some of the set collectors who might want to do deep on such a release.

Value: 4.0/5.0

2012 Panini Cooperstown Baseball isn't for collectors looking to make a ton of money. That said, you're not likely to lose too much of your investment either. There is always going to be demand for Hall of Fame autographs. But fair or not, there seems to be something of a stigma against cards that lack full logos. For bargain hunters, that might make this set something of a dream.

While there are lots of inserts in the release, the majority of the value comes from the autograph. Serial numbering on some of top inserts also helps somewhat.

Those who are more into the history of the game aren't going to be worrying too much about the full value they might recover from their boxes. When you add in the value of sorting and going through this well thought out set, there is plenty to be excited about.

The Fun Factor: 4.5/5.0

So many products today, you rip through and that's not much else to do afterward other than storing them and admiring their shiny design or high-end impact. 2012 Panini Cooperstown is the exact opposite. It's a set that demands your close attention. It's not about the massive hit (although the autograph is certainly appealing). It's about history. It's about learning about baseball's roots. It's old meeting new. The attention to detail and all-in commitment to all things Hall of Fame make it a worthy alternative to actually being there.

Ryan Cracknell | E-Mail AuthorRyan is a former member of The Cardboard Connection Writing Staff.
His collecting origins began with winter bike rides to the corner store, tossing a couple of quarters onto the counter and peddling home with a couple packs of O-Pee-Chee hockey in his pocket. Today, he continues to build sets, go after inserts with cool technologies, chase Montreal Expos and finish off his John Jaha master collection.

Solid and enjoyable set of vintage players.
As with all new sets, way too many subsets, some of which are unappealing,
and I hate short prints. I kept buying more packs (sucker) thinking I would get the one star I was missing, Hank Aaron,
only to find out later that Aaron is not even included in the base set, but is in one of the many subsets. How can you make a Hall of Fame set and not include
Henry Aaron.

Very nice looking product, and I really like the cropping approach to skirting the MLB licensing issue, rather than the more common airbrushing. I did notice there is a parallel of the base set that no sites (including Panini) seems to list, and that is the “Red Crystal” or whatever it is called that is #/399.

This set is about 3 years old now…The Base set is beautiful and I love the insert Autos. Unopened material still is fetching a nice price. I only give 4 stars due to the only things I dont like about the issue. I don’t care much for several of the sub sets. Too many to list which is a common problem with modern baseball card sets…way too many sub sets. Also The main knock I have is how can you make a Hall Of Fame set and not include all of the current Hall Of Famers at the time the set is made in at least the base cards set which is a beautiful set but too many Hall Of Famers should be in here that are not!!!! Would love to see a new issue similar in coming years with all Hall Of Famers in the Base. Nice product with beautiful base cards that are really more attractive than most of the inserts! I give it 4 stars cause how many sets offer a base set as beautiful as these cards.

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